A Momentous Kickoff
The God’s Hope for America tour is successfully on its way! The 43-day revival road trip, split into six regions of the continental United States, completed its Kickoff mini-tour on June 25. So far, the tour has encouraged the communities to come together and has hosted well-known pastors and speakers from multiple faiths. A motorcycle relay has even been organized! If you are interested in joining the tour on your motorcycle for even a small portion, contact Arnold Evanson at arnoldcorresponding@msn.com.
From a celebration at the Bay Area Family Church in San Leandro, California on Sunday, June 22 to a veterans’ event in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the bus and its passengers passed through the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Death Valley, and Las Vegas Holy Grounds where they were met by the local communities.
San Francisco
As we kick off the God’s Hope for America road trip to remember, revive and reimagine a world where God’s truth and values are recognized, we look back on what True Father said in San Francisco in 1973. Speaking out to world leaders from the East and West, and primarily from the Golden State of California, True Father called upon everyone to recommit to a hope centered upon God and to rededicate themselves to God’s vision for the world. We are here to do the same. Watch the complete video of his speech here and reflect on how you and your community are God’s hope.
San Francisco Photo gallery on Facebook. Like God’s Hope for America on Facebook, tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
We remember such messages as these from True Father as we retrace his footsteps. The tour began as he did almost 50 years ago, in San Francisco at the Twin Peaks Holy Ground, the first of the 55 Holy Grounds in the United States consecrated by True Father in February and March 1965. The first Holy Ground gathering included heartwarming messages, prayers and celebration, and was followed by a Sunday service at the Bay Area Family Church, a barbecue lunch and finally the much-anticipated ribbon cutting and red-carpet send-off as the tour participants boarded the bus. You can read the full story on the initial kickoff celebrations here.
Los Angeles
After departing from the Bay Area, the tour bus made its way South toward Los Angeles where the group was welcomed by Pastor George Kazakos and the L.A. community, who hosted sightseeing activities and fellowship.
Los Angeles Photo gallery on Facebook. Like God’s Hope for America on Facebook, tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
“It felt like going from one family house to another with just a change of scenery,” said Unificationist Olga Majotova, who flew all the way from New York to participate in the kickoff for the God’s Hope for America road trip. Olga also remarked on the deep contrast between the peaceful nature of California and the urban street of Hollywood. “The shocking culture united us all under a common desire to make haste for our main destination: the Holy Ground in Los Angeles,” she said. Located in the famous Griffith Park, the Holy Ground required a bit of a hike to reach, but participants ranging from one year old to seventy years old chose to climb.
Death Valley
The two Holy Grounds visited on Day 3 were not in cities, but in nature; one was located upon Mt. Whitney, and the other in Death Valley. Unificationist Kaye Allen, another road-tripper from the New York area, said she was reminded of True Father’s words, that we should “live life balancing the extremes,” which she felt she could experience because of the contrast between the height of the mountain and the depth of the valley.
Death Valley Photo gallery on Facebook. Like God’s Hope for America on Facebook, tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
The road trip has been an interactive occasion to share and inspire one another, inside and outside of the bus. Throughout the long hours between stops, people on the bus shared many inspiring and tearful testimonies about experiences with True Parents and sharing and living their faith. Three mothers on the tour with their daughters and son shared their goals and reasons for joining the tour.
At Mt. Whitney, three young Unificationists from different parts of California offered a prayer. Then, Death Valley National Park, the hottest and driest place in North America, was stark with surreal colored sand dunes, but still made for a refreshing and invigorating prayer stop.
Las Vegas
The grand kick-off concluded in Las Vegas on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. Two full buses of travelers embarked to the Las Vegas Holy Ground to accommodate the overflow of youth coming from L.A. and Sacramento to experience the revival of True Father’s original journey through America.
Las Vegas Photo gallery on Facebook. Like God’s Hope for America on Facebook, tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
The Las Vegas Holy Ground was originally in Lions Memorial Park, but is now covered by the Grand Saywer Office Building at 555 E. Washington Ave. There was a press conference here the morning of June 25th, and you can read a news article from the Las Vegas Review here. The press was invited to each event in efforts to spread the word about the tour and its purpose, so that America would hear about this revolutionary initiative.
Because the tour’s focus is on God’s Hope for America, the Las Vegas Unificationist community held an event honoring the U.S. veterans, people who represent and defend, America. More than 155 people attended, despite a heat wave.
The event was emceed by Katherine Duncan, a member of the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) and president of the Las Vegas Ward 5 Chamber of Commerce. The welcoming address was given by State Assemblyman Harvey Munford. The crowd welcomed the American Legion Post 8 Color Guard, who made a presentation of arms, with gratitude. Sarah Jessica Rhodes performed a song, and Dr. Balcomb gave the keynote address. He acknowledged the veterans that attended the tribute and offered a gift of gratitude to them. It was under the command of Alexander Haig that Korea was liberated, and who True Father always credited for liberating him from a communist concentration camp. The event took place on the very same Holy Ground that True Father blessed when he visited.
The Las Vegas events also included a visit to the construction site of the International Peace Education Center, set to be finished by the end of this year. Members offered prayers that this site would be used as a burgeoning conference center for peace pursuits.
The bus then went to Lake Mead for lunch amid the vibrant blue water and convoluted mountain ranges. True Father’s fishing boat was brought to the pier for all to see, and many of the young people also had a fantastic time on the dock playing with the numerous fish—there was such an awe and fascination of God’s creation. True Father loved to fish, and he came to Lake Mead often, so this was a chance for them to take delight in the same things in which he took delight. They were also able to view the Hoover Dam and visit the Lake Mead Overlook.
Returning to the heart of Las Vegas, the group toured the Wongu University of Oriental Medicine which Father Moon inaugurated just a few years ago. The day concluded with a very special visit to True Parent’s residence in Las Vegas, the Cheon Hwa Gung. This was also the last place in America where Father Moon visited during his transition back to Korea and then the spirit world. Thus, there was a hush of gratitude and reverence as the group paid tribute to this home.
For each person, the God’s Hope for America road trip has opened a doorway for the legacy and love that True Parents left in America to impact, move and inspire them in a new way.
What an adventure it has been so far! The tour bus has now left Las Vegas and is continuing on its way, after a great start to a great pilgrimage. It is especially inspiring that so many of the youth are getting involved in the future of America and participating in this journey. We are looking forward to hearing more about the experiences on this road trip—and those experiences can be yours! Join us when you can—on the bus or at an event near you. For more information, visit GodsHopeForAmerica.org.